Blog

Yarn & Mothers

One card tips slightly as the others collect dust on the mantel. Flowers droop. Plants get put outdoors. Brunch prepared and served by a loved one or two sits uncomfortably in your stomach as you eat that last bite of a meal that really isn’t your favorite. Whether you are a mother of a human or a four legged friend, or even if you’ve only participated in Mother’s Day rituals for your own Mom, I think most will admit we put an awful lot into pleasing on this one day of the year.

It’s a build-up. It’s a let-down.

So why is this local yarn store owner talking about Mother’s Day anyway? When you’ve planned for, then birthed and nurtured a small business like ours, we get to watch from the sidelines and sometimes participate in the build-ups and the let-downs on nearly a daily basis. What makes Mother’s Day any different than every day? Have you asked yourself that question lately? I have, and here’s what I’ve discovered:

1. There are wonderful people all around us. When we told our customers that we’d collect money for Dove (Domestic Violence Ended) www.dovema.org instead of a class fee, people came out in big numbers to make sure their $20 went to a non-profit doing good work every day. Many people gave more than $20.

2. When I announced to a collection of people attending a drop in that Yarn’s End would be starting a Learn to Knit outreach program to support people in shelter, support groups, hospital, and perhaps even in prison, a delightfully generous person who quietly contributes to all kinds of things, handed me an envelope filled with seed money to get things started.

3. A relocating customer making a big move to FL where wool-y yarn would not be needed arrived on our doorstep with 8 or more boxes of yarn and books to share with people who might not have the means to buy yarn on their own. Didn’t ask for a penny, just unpacked her car. We’re talking boxes of beautiful high end yarn still in the bags they came in.

4. When friends of the shop have become ill with cancer and all kinds of other ailments, there are dozens who always come forward to send a card, make a little something, or just to sit and knit and show their love.

5. Death in the family? People organize themselves to attend wakes, put baskets of love together, and then spend time talking and remembering your loved one with you.

6. People give even when they are down and out. Recently, a woman recovering from a brain aneurysm handed me a baby blanket made from yarn I had given to her when we were packing up our shop for our move to Norwell. She used her recovery time to challenge her brain to create a very special baby blanket using a pattern handed down to her from her mother. That special blanket was given to a young mother being sheltered in a domestic violence home who is expecting a new baby girl in 4 weeks.

These are Mother’s Day moments that happen each and every day. As a retailer continuously struggling with cash flow, making personal and family sacrifices at home so our business can be nurtured, I feel blessed to have the opportunity to witness what makes every day Mother’s Day. Thank you all for your support to our Yarn’s End family and for all you do as mothers. You don’t have to give birth to feel the love.

And a special 'Thank you' to my Mother and Father for your gifts of love, hope, generosity, and kindness.